ISL stand-off: Supreme Court asks AIFF, organisers to find solution soon

The Supreme Court on Friday, August 22, told the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and the league organisers, Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), to sit together and chalk out the future of the Master Rights Agreement (MRA).

The SC has asked both major stakeholders to find a solution by the next hearing, which has been scheduled on 28 August 2025. The expiry of the current MRA between AIFF and FSDL is set to end on 8 December 2025 and this has been the major issue that has halted the ISL 2025-26 season from happening. While FSDL wants to extend the contract and get a guarantee from the AIFF, but the governing body has said the pending SC judgement on its new constitution has been the reason why they're hesitant to sign a new deal.

In the AIFF Constitution case, the SC bench of Justice Sri Narasimha and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said that the judgment is about to be delivered, but they're waiting to review the new National Sports Governance Bill 2025 before giving a final verdict.

The positive developments on Friday mean that if things do go well, the season will get underway soon.

The ISL saga so far

The ISL 2025-26 season was put on hold by the AIFF on July 12 as a new MRA deal wasn't agreed with FSDL. This would force 11 clubs to temporarily suspend operations with the future of ISL uncertain. The clubs also told AIFF that there is a possibilty of the league being shutdown completely.

The current standstill has created immediate and severe consequences. With operations suspended and no certainty on league continuity, several clubs face the real possibility of shutting down entirely," said the clubs in their letter to AIFF.

This forced the SC to intervene to hear the dispute between AIFF and FSDL.